My Semi-Inverted Wheelgun Rig

I've been tweaking a shoulder system for my beloved Speed Six for the past few years. The current incarnation is working extremely well so I thought I'd post it. Nobody makes a rig quite like this, so I had to create it out of parts.

The straps are from a Bianchi X-15 rig. I find the broad leather combined with the elastic securing strap make for an extremely comfortable all-day fit. There is no need to hook it to one's pants as with a Null or a Galco executive. And there's no need to weigh down the off-side with ammo as with the SB-II or Miami. The Shoulder itself is a standard Galco K-frame holster for their shoulder rigs. I first joined the two with para cord, but this gets slippery when wet and kept coming undone. I replaced it with high-quality cowhide. These get tighter when wet, not looser, and have worked excellent for about a month now.

It rides fairly low and back a bit, but canted down at an angle. This makes for an extremely fast draw. The idea was probably started by Detective Toschi back in the 60's. His inverted rig was not actually upside down, as Steve McQueen's imitation was in "Bullit." It was canted down. You can see a very accurate version in "Zodiak."

It does have a weakness. If it is unsnapped nothing keeps the revolver from falling to the ground. I fixed this by securing a simple elastic cord around the back of the trigger guard. Arranged as shown in the photos it offers no impediment to the draw, but serves as a safety harness if the snap comes undone.

At any rate I love it because it allows for fast draw even on a bike while wearing pants that would never tolerate a normal holster. In fact pants that have no belt. I can get to it even when leaning down over the handlebars. A standard open cover shirt conceals the whole thing. I will be making more tweaks on it in the future, but of the dozens of rigs I've tried this is the best.

Pretty innovative.
I created my own for a few guns over the years. I use a harness from Galco's jackass rig, and various holsters/ammo carriers/tiedowns to make it work. I have killed a lot of the rigs in the giant box-o-holsters to make good shoulder rigs for most of my carry platforms. Now I just have to gain 30 pounds to make shoulder carry a reality.
Steve

Cosmoline

July 28, 2008, 12:11 PM

Just wear baggy shirts.

FYI I did some more field testing today and I"m still not happy about the backup elastic. With the T-Grip on there it still has a tendency to roll out if the snap fails. I'll continue tweaking it. Though now that I think on it, the old-fashioned lanyard ring might be the best way around the problem.